Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12

supersean1999

iv read this thread for a while now as a big man utd fan, we need a left back, a creative center mid player, and a big skillful target man, a plan b option but a bit more energetic than berba, lebankowski (prob wrong speling) would be ideal ,granted there not easy to find, i cant see welbeck becoming this type of player (personally not a massive fan of his), and rooney, hernandez are def not, we can get rid of park on top of owen and berba, its a fine line between not enough players and game time and to many players, at times last year players that came into the team , just looked plain unfit not sharp enough, personally i don see fergie buying a ball winner, i think he sees jones playing the defensive midfield role more often this year beside carrick or scholes at times with , in a 4-2-3-1

Samich

I'd keep Ando. Not a starter but an impact player imo. When he comes on as a sub he has loads of energy and really impacts the game, getting challenges in and giving the ball to the other forward players.

Like Schweinsteiger but not as good obviously.

TheDoc

Samich wrote: »

I'd keep Ando. Not a starter but an impact player imo. When he comes on as a sub he has loads of energy and really impacts the game, getting challenges in and giving the ball to the other forward players.

Like Schweinsteiger but not as good obviously.

Der Panzer nicht einverstanden

Ashbourne hoop

If a decent offer came in for Anderson, I'd take it. He's never fit and when he is he isn't all that great. His passing is poor, shooting is shocking and isn't a particularly good tackler. He does run around a lot without doing anything though.

Owen_S

Anderson's early season form with Cleverley is enough to deserve another season to prove his fitness and ability. It would be stupid to write him off now, especially considering how promising he was in Portugal(although in a slightly more advanced role).

crank_1975

We should be lumping in a bid for Schweinsteiger, he is exactly what we need, box to box, defensive and attacking midfielder all rolled into one. Should be made captain as well as has the leadership qualities necessary (something which the current squad is sorely lacking, apart from Vidic obviously).

Schism

crank_1975 wrote: »

We should be lumping in a bid for Schweinsteiger, he is exactly what we need, box to box, defensive and attacking midfielder all rolled into one. Should be made captain as well as has the leadership qualities necessary (something which the current squad is sorely lacking, apart from Vidic obviously).

I have to presume you're trolling. Everything you said about Schweinsteiger is true but there's no hope of him leaving Munich.

crank_1975

Schism wrote: »

I have to presume you're trolling. Everything you said about Schweinsteiger is true but there's no hope of him leaving Munich.

I disagree, the rise of Dortmund in the Bundesliga plus Munich's collapse in the Champions League final coupled with a large bid could prove persuasive. Been done before with Hargreaves (although agree that English heritage may have had a part to play).

Also the success of Ozil and Khedira at Madrid may prompt other German internationals to look further afield.

I will admit that it's a long shot though.

DB21

It'd still take a ridiculous amount for Bayern to sell one of their best. ~€30m at least, I'd say.

Cantona's Collars

Ashbourne hoop wrote: »

If a decent offer came in for Anderson, I'd take it. He's never fit and when he is he isn't all that great. His passing is poor, shooting is shocking and isn't a particularly good tackler. He does run around a lot without doing anything though.

We could swap him for Henderson............oh wait he's exactly the same.

A decent offer & he should be sold,too many seasons of waiting for him to come good,he'll be playing Masters Football & we could still be waiting on that day.

Schism

crank_1975 wrote: »

I disagree, the rise of Dortmund in the Bundesliga plus Munich's collapse in the Champions League final coupled with a large bid could prove persuasive. Been done before with Hargreaves (although agree that English heritage may have had a part to play).

Also the success of Ozil and Khedira at Madrid may prompt other German internationals to look further afield.

I will admit that it's a long shot though.

I would love to have him at the club too, excellent player. Munich are a big club too though and they can't afford to lose a player like him if they want to challenge next year. I see your point though.

Mitch Connor

If schweinsteiger was interested in signing for us, he'd have done so a couple of seasons when it seems we were in for him on a bosman. he decided to stay in Germany with munich - i'd be shocked if he finished his career elsewhere.

Shane St.

I dunno why Schism was received a warning.... but I agree no chance of getting Schweni

TheDoc

crank_1975 wrote: »

We should be lumping in a bid for Schweinsteiger, he is exactly what we need, box to box, defensive and attacking midfielder all rolled into one. Should be made captain as well as has the leadership qualities necessary (something which the current squad is sorely lacking, apart from Vidic obviously).

The time to bid for him was when he was lingering around as right winger, and underperforming.

Lowe deployed him in centre midfielder afaik, not Bayern. And after the WC his price sky rocketed, you are easily talking €30m.

And now, after his seasons with Bayern in midfield, and this season, and how hes started the euros?

Your talking big money, and hes worth it. He stated a few years back he might move, but after the WC success and then Bayern agreeing to utilise him in the CM role he said he was happy to stay.

Your talking stupidly big money to get him, and while he would be excellent, I think its a bit too pricey.

Your talking like buying Ballack in his peak, €50m +

PhlegmyMoses

The time to bid for him was when he was angling for a new contract two summers ago and giving out about the Bayern fans. He is Bayern through and through. No way is he leaving.

v3ttel

crank_1975 wrote: »

I disagree, the rise of Dortmund in the Bundesliga plus Munich's collapse in the Champions League final coupled with a large bid could prove persuasive. Been done before with Hargreaves (although agree that English heritage may have had a part to play).

Also the success of Ozil and Khedira at Madrid may prompt other German internationals to look further afield.

I will admit that it's a long shot though.

It's not a long shot. There is no chance.

You are talking about Bayern's collapse in a Champions League final? Why would he see us as a better option when we couldn't get out of our group?

The comparison to Hargreaves is irrelevant. He was English, a chance to join the best club side in the country for which he plays his international football. Schweinstiger is arguably German's biggest player, playing for Germany's biggest club.

If he does leave, it would be for a fee that we couldn't afford to, or wouldn't, pay. I could only ever see him leaving Bayern for Real or Barca, if he feels in a couple of years he has done all he wants in his homeland, and there is nothing more to achieve.

Pro. F

TheDoc wrote: »

I guess different people take differently to what they expect from United players. Its not being snobby or trying to pretend to have a higher knowledge of the game, and its not trying to be different from the crowd, or jumping on the bandwagon either.

I don't think anyone doubts there is something there. I always get eery at the word "potential" because potentially, anyone can do anything. But you cannot deny there was a bit of a circus around Cleverly and it was something I was a bit iffy about.

I'm not sure where it started or where it came from, but it looked as if very few opinions generated on him where of individuals, and rather of a collective " well everyone is saying he is **** hot, I best agree". That might be a bit tarring with the one brush but you get my point.

If anything my attention has been FULLY on Cleverly anytime he has played. But I can't help but feel that the assumptions about his quality are based off the following

1) Potential. Great if he has it, lets see it blossom
2) To detract attention from what was another summer without a MC signing.

I think his impact in the Community shield was what got us all giddy, I'll hold my hand up and say I did too. But when you review that game, United were gettting stomped and being all round poor. I dont think he was put on to bring the game back, but moreso to get him some first team experience. And fair ****s he took the opportunity and showed some good passages of play.

And he did so aswell in the first 2-3 games of the season. But he appeared ten times in the league with only 4 starts. ( I thought he had more but some google searches said 4, open to correction there)

I don't think anyone is writing him off, and I no with me, I'm not having any negative or disapproving view on how other fans are viewing his play and progress. It might well be the case that I am slow/thick to make a call on a player before everyone else. But I don't think thats the case, there is just a strong a camp that is off the thinking this guy needs to get more games under his belt, and we really havn't seen anything astonishing. And definitely havn't seen anything to indicate he could be a first team starter for say, 3-5 seasons coming. Granted that might be a bit excessive.

But you also have to look at the sort of players we are linked with ( the more solid ones anyway) and even the people we have signed.

Kagawa who can play a more central role between the midfield and strikers.
Powell, a CM for the future, but the not too distant one
Carrick will be a mainstay, and after last season showed real flourish
Scholes is hanging on again, might not be as influencial but looks like he can get another good 20+ games dictating.
Anderson, juries out if he is going to be sold, but if fit and firing, a starter.
Linked with Strootman, whose burst through onto the scene this year as a serious box to box midfielder.
Linked with Modric, who if we utilise Kagawa in the hole, Modric will be lining up in CM.

So I guess I'm also slightly concerned if this is an indication that internally at United, there isn't as much belief/reliance on Cleverly forming part of a mainstay CM. Then again the above is very speculative and just my thought son it.

We are all hoping he does progress as everyone says he will, but I'm just holding my expectations in reserve.

You only have to look at England in general and the media to see how easily hyped their players get and how easily they fall off the fore.

Sturridge for Chelsea, who has gone a bit stale
Walcott for Arsenal, flashes of brilliance, consistently meh
Wilshere for Arsenal, one performance against Barca has labelled him the English Iniesta, lad is constantly having surgery and lengthy spells on the couch.

I'm just going to hold back for when I get to see Clev put in 20+ league games and then make an assessment.

It doesn't matter who we are linked with and who is in the squad. You could use how United treat him and who is bought in his position as a way of gauging how Ferguson rates Cleverley. But that's just gauging Ferguson's opinion, not expressing your own.

It also doesn't matter if he has got a lot of hype (I don't know if he has or not, I don't pay attention to that stuff). Hype is no reason to judge him differently when you watch him.

All you need to do is watch him play and then you can express an opinion on his footballing ability. I just don't think it is credible that you are unable to judge a player until you've seen them play 20+ times. This isn't an attack on you, I think lots of people in this thread think like you do.

Schism

So getting back to the whole midfield situation.

We've pretty much got Kagawa in the bag (pending permits and the like but let's just say he's here). In the last few days Powell has been signed too, presumably as backup in a similar position to Shinji or at least an attacking role (if he's not sent out on loan). These guys are more attackers than midfielders though.

That still leaves the quite a hole in midfield and I presume we're only going to get one more player if any. There's talk about Modric again this summer of course and while he would be a top signing I don't think it's exactly what we need. His creativity and flair are sorely needed yes, but what we need more in my opinion is a player with more of a physical presence to take control. If we weren't over run in midfield against the big clubs, this season would most likely have panned out much differently.

We were linked with Javi Martinez this time last year. That's the kind of player I think we need, but we didn't get him last year and his price is only going to go up and up now.

So my question is who? Not ideally I'd have X and Y, but who realistically can we get for money and wages we're willing to pay?

Mitch Connor

Schism wrote: »

So getting back to the whole midfield situation.

We've pretty much got Kagawa in the bag (pending permits and the like but let's just say he's here). In the last few days Powell has been signed too, presumably as backup in a similar position to Shinji or at least an attacking role (if he's not sent out on loan). These guys are more attackers than midfielders though.

That still leaves the quite a hole in midfield and I presume we're only going to get one more player if any. There's talk about Modric again this summer of course and while he would be a top signing I don't think it's exactly what we need. His creativity and flair are sorely needed yes, but what we need more in my opinion is a player with more of a physical presence to take control. If we weren't over run in midfield against the big clubs, this season would most likely have panned out much differently.

We were linked with Javi Martinez this time last year. That's the kind of player I think we need, but we didn't get him last year and his price is only going to go up and up now.

So my question is who? Not ideally I'd have X and Y, but who realistically can we get for money and wages we're willing to pay?

I think Strootman is the most likely signing for us - rated around 15million so in our price range and I am fairly certain we are very interested in him - if anyone reads the RedIssue fanzine, they have been saying we are trying to bring him and that the stumbling block is we want Mendes on the deal - similar to De Gea last season I suppose. I reckon there is a good chance we will make a more concrete and concerted effort for him when Holland's participation in the Euro's is over.

Pro. F

Mitch Connor wrote: »

...and that the stumbling block is we want Mendes on the deal - similar to De Gea last season I suppose.

If that is true it's fùcking ridiculous.

Red Crow

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I think Strootman is the most likely signing for us - rated around 15million so in our price range and I am fairly certain we are very interested in him - if anyone reads the RedIssue fanzine, they have been saying we are trying to bring him and that the stumbling block is we want Mendes on the deal - similar to De Gea last season I suppose. I reckon there is a good chance we will make a more concrete and concerted effort for him when Holland's participation in the Euro's is over.

Mendes is going to turn into our Pini Zahavi and I hope this football club will think better than to conduct our business along the same lines that Chelsea do theres.

Mendes and GestiFute should be investigated by UEFA at the very least.

Felexicon

Is there any news on us signing Hummels? BBC commentary said he was heavely linked to United and was expected to be playing there next season.
Hadn't heard anything about it

tvercetti

Sky linking us with Papadopoulos

Link

Samich

tvercetti wrote: »

Sky linking us with Papadopoulos

Link

Hasn't impressed me. Anyways no chance.

markc1184

Felexicon wrote: »

Is there any news on us signing Hummels? BBC commentary said he was heavely linked to United and was expected to be playing there next season.
Hadn't heard anything about it

Nearly sure he signed a contract extension with Dortmund so pretty much rules out any move.

Samich

crank_1975 wrote: »

We should be lumping in a bid for Schweinsteiger, he is exactly what we need, box to box, defensive and attacking midfielder all rolled into one. Should be made captain as well as has the leadership qualities necessary (something which the current squad is sorely lacking, apart from Vidic obviously).

Why would a German, playing for the biggest club in Germany leave them?

Utd aren't the best team to play for in the world. Only English players would think it.

Can't just pick players from whichever team ya like.

Schism

Stootman would be more like it alright. If we were going for him though we'd want to get it done soon. Fair enough the Euros aren't going well for the Dutch but he's another player that's going to rise in price as he develops more.

Felexicon

markc1184 wrote: »

Nearly sure he signed a contract extension with Dortmund so pretty much rules out any move.

Yeah I thought it was wierd. Just thought I'd check had it been heard anywhere else.

kryogen

Eli Manning wrote: »

Mendes is going to turn into our Pini Zahavi and I hope this football club will think better than to conduct our business along the same lines that Chelsea do theres.

Mendes and GestiFute should be investigated by UEFA at the very least.

Pretty sure he and his agency is under investigation over the Bebe transfer

kryogen

Felexicon wrote: »

Yeah I thought it was wierd. Just thought I'd check had it been heard anywhere else.

Im pretty sure there is zero chance Hummels leaves this transfer window anyway, whatever about Lewendowski Dortmund will not lose Hummels without a huge fight. Brilliant player

Mitch Connor

kryogen wrote: »

Im pretty sure there is zero chance Hummels leaves this transfer window anyway, whatever about Lewendowski Dortmund will not lose Hummels without a huge fight. Brilliant player

Great pic of him from last night:

http://i.imgur.com/FewK0.jpg

yomtea98

My team next season
De gea
Jones Vidic Ferdinand Baines
Valencia Srootman Nani
Kagawa Modric
Rooney

kryogen

Struttin away like a boss

kryogen

yomtea98 wrote: »

My team next season
De gea
Jones Vidic Ferdinand Baines
Valencia Srootman Nani
Kagawa Modric
Rooney

Team needs more Rafael in it tbh, no chance of getting Modric Strootman and Baines either actually, I assume you just mean this is your fantasy team for next season?

More likely to be
De Gea, Raf, Vidic, Smalling, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Clev/Ando/x?, Nani, Kagawa, Rooney

IncognitoMan

yomtea98 wrote: »

My team next season
De gea
Jones Vidic Ferdinand Baines
Valencia Srootman Nani
Kagawa Modric
Rooney

[IMG][/img] Make your football formation with this11.com

Mitch Connor

Des is gonna explode!

Mitch Connor

interesting transfer stats.

http://twitpic.com/9w8yvd

IncognitoMan

This is how I think we will line up at the start of the season

[IMG][/img] Use this11.com for drawing your football tactics

Mitch Connor

IncognitoMan wrote: »

This is how I think we will line up at the start of the season

http://this11.com/boards/abCPnkkaje.jpg

i reckon that is bang on.

IncognitoMan

Mitch Connor wrote: »

i reckon that is bang on.

Looking at the front four the movement out of them could make for some entertaining football

tvercetti

G.K.

13 players?

markc1184

With that line up hopefully we can have Howard reffing each week too and it'll be like having 14!!

POSSY

tvercetti wrote: »

Make your football formation with this11.com


Edit: I know Messi isn't a winger...but against Stoke on a cold tuesday night he will be!!!

MagicMarker

G.K. wrote: »

13 players?

And 4 balls!! :eek:

POSSY

MagicMarker wrote: »

And 4 balls!! :eek:

Ah you mean Budweiser's inspired idea....Multi-Ball Extra-Time!

Samich

EDIT: Very badly done I know :P

Samich

Mitch Connor wrote: »

interesting transfer stats.

http://twitpic.com/9w8yvd

Mentioned it a while back Utd are the only ones signing young English Talent, Liverpool are the other club doing it now. Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal aren't doing it yet.

tvercetti

G.K. wrote: »

13 players?

I was afraid if I put 12, people would think I was been genuine so played it safe and went with 13.

TheDoc

Pro. F wrote: »

It doesn't matter who we are linked with and who is in the squad. You could use how United treat him and who is bought in his position as a way of gauging how Ferguson rates Cleverley. But that's just gauging Ferguson's opinion, not expressing your own.

It also doesn't matter if he has got a lot of hype (I don't know if he has or not, I don't pay attention to that stuff). Hype is no reason to judge him differently when you watch him.

All you need to do is watch him play and then you can express an opinion on his footballing ability. I just don't think it is credible that you are unable to judge a player until you've seen them play 20+ times. This isn't an attack on you, I think lots of people in this thread think like you do.

I take your point on boards and realise its not a personal attack its a fair point.

I just dont like to , add to growing expectations. Obviously a player will not know me or my views, but you know how it is, you get expectations and then your down in the pub or with the lads and when they arnt being amazing your saying there ****e, that sorta stuff.

We have been waiting along time for someone to fill the MC void left by Keane, and we have gone through a substantial amount of players trying it, so I'd like to just allow the person, whose going into a MC previously covetted by McClair, Robson, Keane and soon to be retired Scholes, there is alot of pressure

It can take time to get used to running games, dictating tempo etc and I think 20+ games is a good indication of wether a player can do the business at United or not.